Trail of the Eagle's Nests
The Trail of the Eagles' Nests (
The castles date mostly to the 14th century, and were constructed probably by the order of
The Trail of the Eagles' Nests is considered one of the best tourist trails in Poland, marked as No. 1 on the official list of most popular trails in the country. It encompasses all 25 castles and watchtowers, and is 163 kilometres (101 miles) long (the bicycle trail is 188 km (117 mi) long). Most of the sites can also be reached by bus.[2]
The castles of the Eagles' Nests
The Eagles' Nests castles (Polish: Orle Gniazda), many of which survived only in the form of picturesque ruins, are perched high on the tallest rocks between Częstochowa and the former Polish capital Kraków. The castles were built to protect Kraków as well as important trading routes against the foreign invaders. Later, the castles passed on into the hands of various Polish aristocratic families.
- The Eagles' Nests castles along the marked trail (*) including similar structures of thePolish Jura [1]
Royal castles Knight's castles Defensive watchtowers - Będzin Castle *
- Bobolice Castle *
- Brzeźnica Castle
- Wawel*
- Krzepice Castle
- Lelów Castle
- Ojców Castle *
- Olsztyn Castle *
- Ostrężnik Castle
- Rabsztyn Castle *
- Wieluń Castle
- Żarnowiec Castle
Episcopal castles- Babice - Lipowiec Castle
- Siewierz Castle *
- Sławków Castle
- Biały Kościół Castle
- Bobrek Castle
- Bydlin Castle *
- Częstochowa - Błeszno Castle
- Danków Castle
- Koniecpol - Chrząstów Castle
- Koniecpol Stary Castle
- Korzkiew Castle *
- Koziegłowy Castle
- Kraków - Gródek Castle
- Tyniec - Tenczyn Castle
- Krzykawka Castle
- Mirów Castle *
- Morawica Castle
- Morsko - Bąkowiec Castle *
- Pieskowa Skała *
- Pilica Castle *
- Podzamcze - Ogrodzieniec Castle *
- Rudno - Tenczyn Castle
- Smoleń Castle *
- Udórz Castle
- Żarki Castle
- Częstochowa - Mirów
- Giebło
- Klucze
- Łutowiec Castle
- Przewodziszowice
- RyczówCastle
- Siedlec n. Będzin
- Suliszowice
- Wiesiółka
- Złoty Potok
Residential-defensive towers- Dubie
- Grabowa
- Kraków - Zwierzyniec
- Kwaśniów
Picture gallery
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Olsztyn Castle
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Ogrodzieniec Castle
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Rabsztyn Castle
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Pieskowa Skała Castle
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Siewierz Castle
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Przewodziszowice Castle
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Łutowiec Castle
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Smoleń Castle
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Korzkiew Castle
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Pilica Castle
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Danków Castle
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RyczówCastle
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Lipowiec Castle, Babice
- Note: the photos above may include structures located just outside the marked Trail of the Eagles' Nests.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Dariusz Orman, "Zamki Jurajskie. Orle Gniazda." Archived 2009-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Informator Turystyczny it-jura.pl. (in Polish)
- ^ Eagle-Nest Castles - Tourist attractions. Archived 2010-05-01 at the Wayback Machine 2011, KrakowInformer.com (in English)
- Eagles' Nests Trail online map: Waymarked Trails
- Poland by Neil Wilson, Tom Parkinson, Richard Watkins, Lonely Planet
- List of castles (in Polish)
- Map of the castles in Śląskie Voivodship (in Polish)
- Map of the castles in Greater Poland Voivodeship (in Polish)